Resto, part II

Occasion: Procrastination / cabin fever brunch (the former being Yining's reason and the latter, mine)
Location: Resto on 29th between Park and Lex (restonyc.com)
Edibles: we split the gruyère frittata with argula and the eggs Benedict

Musings: Jinkies! We went to Penelope at 11:00, and there was already a 1-hour wait! Man, we seriously need more brunch options in the neighborhood. We bailed, and decided to see if Resto served brunch. And they do! (And may I say, the place looks really different in daytime.)

Unfortunately, the food could use some work. The foundation's there; it just needs fine-tuning. Take the frittata. Thin and rubbery, and really unevenly seasoned - I took a crazy-salty bite, just as Yining was complaining that it was too bland. This one's easily fixed by using more eggs (so the frittata doesn't get overcooked so quickly) and salting the eggs before beating them.

The Benedict dish was great in concept - I mean, a bacon waffle eggs Benedict!! - but the waffle was WAY too sweet. I frequently encountered giant clumps of undissolved brown sugar. The effect was like eggs and hollandaise on top of a doughnut. Which is gross. Had they cut the sugar in half, and mixed it into the waffle batter properly, it would have been a stunner.

You can do it, Resto!

[After brunch we stopped by Fishs Eddy, one of my New York happy places. Of course, I could not resist picking up a few things. How wonderful is this: a sauce dish set with a green one that says Great Lawn, a black one that says Livery Cab, and a grey one - Pigeon. Love it!]

Mmmm... Rock Band party

Occasion: A birthday fake music jam session
Edibles:
smoked salmon and cream cheese tea sandwiches
shrimp salad in endive
cheese (an aged cheddar and an aged goat cheese), soppressata and bread
marinated artichokes and peppers
marinated bocconcini
Anjou pear wrapped with prosciutto
hummus and pita chips
dessert: red velvet mini cupcakes and cookies

A Costco feast! I basically just did some quick assembly. I actually think I like prosciutto and pear better than I like prosciutto and melon! The marinated bocconcini were crap though - note to self not to get that ever again.

(I forgot to grab my camera when I trundled everything downstairs, so no pics - sorry!)

Thanks and big hugs to everyone who came out to play!

Five Points

Occasion: Dinner with the girls - Abby, Jill and Elizabeth
Location: Five Points on Great Jones between Lafayette and Bowery (fivepointsrestaurant.com)
Edibles: I had a couple of raw oysters, followed by the spaghetti and meatball special; the girls shared two pizzas

Musings: Meh. Five Points is a restaurant that I occasionally myself dining at, simply because the reservations are easily had. I think the food is okay at best and overpriced for sure.

One of the pizzas smelled so strongly of truffles it was almost nauseating. Jill agreed it was heavy-handed.

My oysters were good. But they don't really get credit for that - they're not cooked at all, are they? The meatballs in my dish were tough and gamey. I wasn't impressed by the homemade pasta either; I've honestly had dried pasta that was better.

[Postscript: Take a pass on this place and go to Great Jones Cafe instead. Better food and cheaper too.]

Pala

Occasion: Birthday dinner for Elizabeth!
Location: Pala on Allen between Stanton and Houston (palapizza.com)
Edibles: caponata and risotto balls to start; the porri e salsiccia (pork sausage, leeks, sundried tomatoes and pink peppercorns) and bufala cruda (buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil) pizzas

Musings: Great place for a casual midweek get-together. (Or a first date - nice dim lighting!) We were seated promptly even though the space is pretty small. The food came quickly, and was both tasty and reasonably priced.

A big thumbs up on the caponata. It was a nice big dish for $8, and the veggies were very fresh and vibrant. The risotto balls were decent, but nothing to write home about.

As for the pizzas, the bufala was definitely the plain Jane. However, the salsiccia had A LOT of flavors going on, and it was nice to be able to take break from it. They're good complements for each other.

Bonus - it's pretty much door-to-door for me on the bus. I'll definitely be back.

Top Chef All-Stars, Eps. 1-5

Random thoughts / color commentary, for my faithful readers Karen and Josie. Hope y'all are keeping warm!

Ep. 1 - History Never Repeats - Original Air Date 12/1/10

• Damn, I forgot how much Season 2 sucked. Boo, Marcel. Season 7 was a dog, too. Season 3 had some talent - Dale, Tre, Casey.... they could be a threat. Ditto Season 4. Yay, Blais!
• OK, I take that back. Mustard ice-cream, Blais?
• Great Elimination challenge. I remember those butterscotch scallops (ew, again). Good thing you had immunity, Dale. (Dudes, do you guys remember that salmon dish he and Blais made with white chocolate wasabi sauce and tapioca pearls? That the judges actually liked? I still don't get that.)
• You know your food is bad when it's unfavorably compared to a colonoscopy. Yikes.

Ep. 2 - Night at the Museum - 12/8/10

• I don't think there should have been a winner for this one. Seriously, gnocchi, gazpacho and a salmon steak for breakfast?
• I think maybe Jen is still suffering from PTSD from her season or something. Why was she so spazzy and weird?

Ep. 3 - New York's Finest - 12/15/10

• Mise en place relay! Along with the blind taste test, this is my favorite Quickfire. Good speed technique on the garlic from Fabio (the "Cutting Board Smash") and on the lamb from Marcel (the "French Hammer").
• About time they booted Stephen. He really can't cook at all. Then again, the show has really come light years in terms of the cheftestants' qualifications.

Ep. 4 - Advantage Chef - 12/22/10

• Some really creative substitution for kitchen utsensils in the Quickfire. I would not like to have to butcher poultry using a pepper mill.
• "Undone-te" - HA! I like Carla. Speaking of undone-te, what was Jamie thinking, starting with dried legumes?! They take FOREVER to cook, and even home cooks know that.
• I'm not sure what kind of strategy would have worked best in the head-to-head, but I do think the teams should have had to commit to an order before the start. Almost every single round, Yellow Team picked their person after the Orange Team had already locked in. That's seems like an unfair advantage. (Not that it ultimately hurt them.)

Ep. 5 - Dim Sum Lose Sum - 1/5/11

• Pretty much an epic fail. There were a lot of basic misunderstandings about the raw materials, and everyone made their dishes WAY too complicated for the volume they needed to pump out.
• Susur! What I character. I've missed him.
• How does Jamie keep dodging the bullet? Has she done even one halfway decent dish yet?

A New Year

Where has the time gone?

Exciting plans for 2011:

1) The blog enters its third year, and approaches its second anniversary. For 2011, I'm hoping to turn the first year of this blog into a book, to be self-published on Amazon as an ebook. Those of you with Kindles will be able to enjoy it directly, but there's a Kindle app for PC, Android, Blackberry and Apple products so pretty much everyone will have access.

2) My friends Melissa and Tony are getting hitched in March! In Morocco! My tickets are booked, and I'm looking forward to a fabulous trip with lots of culinary adventures. Among them, I'm interested in a tagine cooking class that includes a shopping trip in the local market.

3) My office is moving next week! It's just 14 blocks, but in New York that's a whole new neighborhood. Lots of new lunch options to explore!

What are you up to in 2011?